Dough Extrusion Forming of Titanium Alloys—Green Body Characteristics, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

Titanium and its alloys are widely used in structural applications owing to superior mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. In the present study, a simple powder metallurgy-based process is developed to fabricate dense components through formation of dough under ambient condition using Ti6Al4V powder along with chitosan powder as dough forming additive and acetic acid as solvent. The prepared samples had ∼66±1.7% green density and 97.3±2.1% sintered density of the theoretical value. The microstructure of Ti6Al4V was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Micro-CT analysis was carried out for distribution of defects and their influence on flexural strength and microhardness was assessed as well. The prepared green samples had uniform particle distribution that resulted in minimum deformation after sintering. Assessment of mechanical properties revealed that the values of hardness and flexural modulus for sintered samples were comparable to the reported values of Ti6Al4V components prepared using other process. Therefore, the developed method of dough forming for dense titanium components using powder metallurgy route is a simple and viable alternative.